Sonia Gandhi does not love Indians: Baba Ramdev

Sonia Gandhi does not love Indians: Ramdev

Hours after he and his supporters were dramatically evicted from the Ramleela maidan in New Delhi by the police, Baba Ramdev spewed venom on Congress President Sonia Gandhi and claims that there had been an attempt to eliminate him. Sheela Bhatt reports on his press conference

An emotional and angry Baba Ramdev on Sunday sharply criticised Congress President Sonia Gandhi. Addressing the first press conference after his dramatic arrest on Sunday morning, Baba Ramdev claimed that he was forcibly shifted to his ashram in Hardwar from New Delhi's Ramleela maidan.

Alleging a conspiracy, he claimed: "They wanted to kidnap me and kill me or send me somewhere." He also vowed to continue his fast.

'I thought Sonia is the daughter-in-law of this country'

Taking on Sonia Gandhi, Ramdev said, "I thought she (Sonia) is not born in this country but is the daughter-in-law of this country. But by ordering an attack on one lakh people, she proved that she does not love the people (of this country)."

The yoga guru claimed that Sonia's party abused patriotic people as thugs, killers and terrorists.

Wearing an embroidered kurta, he looked dazed and angry, and was in a contemplative mood before the press conference started. He gave a vivid account of what happened at the Ramleela maidan and blamed Sonia and the United Progressive Alliance government for his and his followers' plight.

'I didn't want to die in such a barbaric act'

Baba's account was a thrilling one: he admittedly played hide and seek with the 5,000-strong police force for almost two hours (from around 2 am to 4 am) after they had surrounded the grounds.

Baba said when the police came looking for him, he was asleep. "If we hadn't calmed our supporters on the night of June 4, thousands of people would have died. Such kind of cruelty was not even seen during the Emergency or the Jallianwala Bagh massacre," he said.

He added, "I am not scared of death. But, I didn't want to die in such a barbaric act."

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Image: A Baba Ramdev supporter being dragged away by the policePhotographs: Reuters

'Do you want to kill me or what?'

He said he jumped off the stage, and hid for two hours between two awnings that had been erected in the maidan. Then, he mingled in a group of women who were carrying an injured woman out. The Baba covered himself with a sari and covered his beard with a dupatta.

At that point, one of his disciples saw him and exclaimed, "Move quickly, or the police will notice." Unfortunately for him, the police did notice, and nabbed him.

He said while he was being taken away, a cop tightened the dupatta around his neck like a noose. He screamed at the policeman who was holding him: "Do you want to kill me or what?"

Ramdev added that Saturday night was a black night for him. "I kept on telling the policemen not to torture innocent people. Even families and children were not spared, they were dragged and beaten up," he said.

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Image: A policeman stands under an empty smoke-filled marquee after Ramdev supporters were dispersed by teargasPhotographs: Adnan Abidi/Reuters